The government parties welcome the decision of President of the Republic János Áder to re-nominate incumbent chief prosecutor Péter Polt for the post, the Minister heading the Prime Minister’s Office told the Hungarian news agency MTI on Tuesday.

Gergely Gulyás said János Áder is the third head of state who found Péter Polt the most suitable candidate for the position of the number one official of the prosecution service. The first one to so decide was Árpád Göncz, he observed.

Mr Polt is a full professor, his knowledge of criminal law is unquestionable, and he is a widely recognised expert internationally as well as in Europe, the Minister said.

He stressed that in the past few years Mr Polt had proved that the Hungarian prosecution service applied criminal law consistently and with due rigour; the Hungarian prosecution service’s efficiency indicators are among the best in Europe. Also thanks to this, the number of crimes has fallen to less than one half since the change of government in 2010, he added.

The parliamentary groups of the governing parties support the election of the President of the Republic’s candidate for the position of chief prosecutor, Mr Gulyás said.

In a letter dated 18 October which was posted on Parliament’s website on Tuesday, President Áder informed Speaker of the House László Kövér that he wishes to repeatedly nominate incumbent chief prosecutor Péter Polt for the position.

Mr Polt’s nine-year mandate will expire in December this year. Parliament elected Mr Polt for the position of chief prosecutor on 6 December 2010; he already held this position once before between 2000 and 2006.

(MTI)